An initiative by the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aims to support governors leadership in good community design and innovative planning.
Former Governors Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey and Parris N. Glendening of Maryland will spearhead the new Governors Institute on Community Design, created through a partnership between the NEA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Governors Institute will hold a series of workshops each year that will pair governors and their cabinet secretaries with top planning experts and practitioners to address specific challenges in state and regional land use. Former Governor Angus King of Maine has also agreed to be part of the Institutes future workshops. The Governors Institute builds on the success of the NEA Mayors' Institute on City Design, which since 1986, has gathered mayors and designers to generate ideas on better city planning.
The Institute, funded by EPA and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will be jointly administered by two organizations with extensive experience in helping states address development and related quality-of-life issues -- the Smart Growth Leadership Institute and the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education, both at the University of Maryland.
Thanks to Benjamin Dela Pena

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